My youngest son EJ turned 3 a few months ago, and this is the first year he’ll really begin to understand the magic of Christmas. Visiting Santa’s Grotto is something that is part of our Christmas celebrations, and this year we started early when we popped in to meet the big man himself at Chill Factore in Manchester.

The grotto experience at Chill Factore starts with meeting some of the elves, who make balloon animals and apply glitter tattoos if you want them. This is done in an area that also has lots of craft items where you can make a Christmas card or colour in a picture of Santa while you wait for your turn to enter the grotto. There was enough to occupy EJ whilst waiting for his turn, but we were more than ready to go when our turn rolled around.

Once the crafting was all done and Santa was ready for us, we were led by an elf into the snow surrounded grotto. The grotto is situated within Mini Moose Land and being set in real snow gives it a very Christmassy feel! The grotto itself is in a homely wooden hut with a bright red door – the perfect traditional Christmas setting.

Meeting Santa was somewhat overwhelming for EJ, who just stared into space for the most part! I’m sure he was happy on the inside but he did look a bit worried…

Whether he was worried or not, EJ still managed to ask Santa for a monster truck at Christmas, so he definitely had his own priorities!

I took some photos inside the grotto as you can see, but Chill Factore do take a proper one of your child with Santa which you can buy copies of on your way out which are much clearer.

Once we left the grotto we headed to Mini Moose Land to play in the snow. It is so much fun for all of us here. The bigger boys enjoyed the Downhill Donuts and the Snow and Ice Slide, while EJ had a great time at Mini Moose Land, which is suitable for under 4’s.

Prices for Santa’s Grotto at Chill Factore start at just £9.50, and family tickets can offer even better value for money. For all ticketing details you can nip over to the Chill Factore website, and you can book online too. Of you book and visit before 20th December you can also benefit from 10% off with code SANTA10 – but be quick, slots are filling up fast!

Thank you to Chill Factore for inviting us to enjoy their Santa’s Grotto experience. We had a great time and will be back next year!

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